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Stan Rogers
Joined: 20 Aug 2010
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 Posted: Fri Apr 12, 2013 4:21 pm Post subject: Newbs and North Korea |
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Am I the only one who's getting sick of listening to them talk about this subject.
Not a single Korean I have spoken to has even mentioned it to me. |
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Dodge7
Joined: 21 Oct 2011
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| Posted: Fri Apr 12, 2013 5:05 pm Post subject: Re: Newbs and North Korea |
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| Stan Rogers wrote: |
Am I the only one who's getting sick of listening to them talk about this subject.
Not a single Korean I have spoken to has even mentioned it to me. |
well Koreans sure do talk about it on the news a lot and even my wife said that this time it feels different. Newbs are validated to a certain extent about the possible war situation here.
But I'm like you, not concerned at all...until it happens. |
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Hugo85
Joined: 27 Aug 2010
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| Posted: Fri Apr 12, 2013 5:29 pm Post subject: |
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| Ive been asked about it a lot by Koreans. Some seemed worried. |
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FDNY
Joined: 27 Sep 2010
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| Posted: Fri Apr 12, 2013 6:30 pm Post subject: |
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| As long as the nuke drops on my WIFE'S HEAD I don't give a shit. |
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ghostrider
Joined: 27 Jun 2011
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| Posted: Fri Apr 12, 2013 10:35 pm Post subject: |
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It looks like an English teacher decided write an article about foreign media scaremongering:
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A Foreigner's Perspective from Korea: How the Foreign Media presents a different picture.
As an English teacher living in Seoul, South Korea I have been wandering about the city, going about my usual business. Why? Because the Foreign media is the only thing that tells me something "scary" and "unusual" is happening in South Korea.
In the past month I have seen a high increase in media reports about North Korea's intentions to launch a missile, start a war, and attack South Korea's neighboring countries and ally bases. In the past month I have also seen South Koreans posing together for romantic pictures by the blossoming cherry blossom trees in Olympic Park- a clean and scenic park in my home area of the city, subways jam-packed with men and women texting or playing games on their smart phones as they commute to and from work, and my elementary students singing the tune to PSY's new song titled 'Gentleman.' Nothing seems abnormal over here.
On the other hand, as I have been continuing to go about my business at work, there has been an increase in discussions about North Korea among the 30 foreign teachers at the large private English school that I teach at. "Did you read the news today?" one teacher asks. Another responds with, "Oh, yeah, I've been getting e-mails all day from family at home- they want me to leave. I keep telling them it's fine, and I am not worried at all," another teacher responds. In another discussion I heard: "Did you read the news today?" a teacher asks. "Yeah- I am surprised that our school doesn't have much of a 'plan.' Why haven't we been approached by the administration for details about how we should get out if something unexpected should occur?" the other teacher responds. While these are two completely separate conversations, they do present different outcomes. I can't honestly believe that all 30 of my school's teachers are 100% not worried about North Korea, as I have read in other reports from foreigners living here. The answer to the second question is simple: No one in South Korea is truly worried about North Korea. This is why my large private academy does not e-mail all of its teachers, from the United States and Canada, with a "plan" of what to do, in the event that something should occur between the North and South. Although there is no "plan" set in place, all of these teachers agree on one thing: Life is calm here and completely unaffected by any of the news that is seen in Foreign Media.
The way that I feel about North Korea is that I have a slightly higher sense of anxiety about them not because of what I see around me, but because of what I hear and see in the Foreign Media. No, I do not have any plans to flee the country due to my feelings because I personally do not feel unsafe here. I understand there is a threat- a very small threat- but to me, it's the same level of threat as getting into a car and driving somewhere every day. In fact, there is probably even a lot LESS of a threat from North Korea, than from traveling somewhere in a car. This raises the question in my head: "Why is it that the farther people are away from Seoul, the more they seem to fear the situation over here on the Korean Peninsula?" This question could certainly be answered in a variety of ways. Personally in my own words, I think it could be answered with one word: Money.
The next time you log onto your computer to check what's going on in Foreign News and you click on "High Potential for War in South Korea," don't think too hard about what you are reading. Instead, think about who is behind the writing of it, how much money the media company will make with every "click," and how that article may be sensationalized to present an different picture of the real world over here in South Korea. No, I am not living in a "war zone".... I am living in a large city that is busy, and more concerned with the celebrity media than it is with any threat that comes from North Korea. |
http://ireport.cnn.com/docs/DOC-955153
I haven't seen any headlines like "High Potential for War in South Korea". It seems to me that the author is missing the point. Both the Korean media and the foreign media have reported about threats made by North Korea. South Koreans, however, are responding to the same news differently. |
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diver
Joined: 16 Jun 2003
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Died By Bear
Joined: 13 Jul 2010
Location: On the big lake they call Gitche Gumee
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| Posted: Fri Apr 12, 2013 11:19 pm Post subject: |
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| FDNY wrote: |
| As long as the nuke drops on my WIFE'S HEAD I don't give a shit. |
Soooo, your wife is she hot?  |
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fermentation
Joined: 22 Jun 2009
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| Posted: Fri Apr 12, 2013 11:43 pm Post subject: |
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| Media in the US is much better at fear mongering. |
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Died By Bear
Joined: 13 Jul 2010
Location: On the big lake they call Gitche Gumee
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| Posted: Sat Apr 13, 2013 2:31 am Post subject: |
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| fermentation wrote: |
| Media in the US is much better at fear mongering. |
So true... |
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Kiwigoddess
Joined: 07 Feb 2013
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| Posted: Sat Apr 13, 2013 5:15 pm Post subject: |
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| Died By Bear wrote: |
| FDNY wrote: |
| As long as the nuke drops on my WIFE'S HEAD I don't give a shit. |
Soooo, your wife is she hot? |
probably fair to say she'd be "smokin hot" under those circumstances  |
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dairyairy
Joined: 17 May 2012
Location: South Korea
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young_clinton
Joined: 09 Sep 2009
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| Posted: Sun Apr 14, 2013 5:06 am Post subject: |
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| Died By Bear wrote: |
| FDNY wrote: |
| As long as the nuke drops on my WIFE'S HEAD I don't give a shit. |
Soooo, your wife is she hot? |
He just wants the body  |
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javis
Joined: 28 Feb 2013
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| Posted: Tue Apr 16, 2013 5:11 am Post subject: Re: Newbs and North Korea |
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| Stan Rogers wrote: |
Am I the only one who's getting sick of listening to them talk about this subject.
Not a single Korean I have spoken to has even mentioned it to me. |
ESL teachers in Korea are in a unique position where they can potentially be long-term, (somewhat) functional members of society and considerably knowledgeable about practical day-to-day life, and posess insight about topics that directly concern their epistemic community, yet be clueless about the big picture because they can't understand what people are really talking about around them.
Anyway, from my observations I would characterize the South Korean attitude about the North Korean security threat not as unconcerned, but as fatalistic. If you really ask a Korean what their opinion is about war with North Korea, they are more likely to say, "We'll all die, so what can I do about it," than to say, "I don't care." There is an important distinction. |
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Otherside
Joined: 06 Sep 2007
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| Posted: Tue Apr 16, 2013 5:35 am Post subject: Re: Newbs and North Korea |
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| javis wrote: |
| Stan Rogers wrote: |
Am I the only one who's getting sick of listening to them talk about this subject.
Not a single Korean I have spoken to has even mentioned it to me. |
ESL teachers in Korea are in a unique position where they can potentially be long-term, (somewhat) functional members of society and considerably knowledgeable about practical day-to-day life, and posess insight about topics that directly concern their epistemic community, yet be clueless about the big picture because they can't understand what people are really talking about around them.
Anyway, from my observations I would characterize the South Korean attitude about the North Korean security threat not as unconcerned, but as fatalistic. If you really ask a Korean what their opinion is about war with North Korea, they are more likely to say, "We'll all die, so what can I do about it," than to say, "I don't care." There is an important distinction. |
Thanks for the cutting insight bro. I was under the clearly misguided impression that ESL teachers were:
a) actually able to make their own judgements about the situation.
b) able to tell the difference between mass-panic in the streets and people going about their daily business,
and
c) able to have interactions with Koreans and get their (greatly varying) opinions on the matter.
But thanks for clearing things up, cause I was getting a sneaking suspicion that the 100+ Koreans I've spoken to on the North Korean issue over the past few years (some of whom were very passionate about it) have been collectively pulling the wool over my eyes, and I'm sure other posters feel the same way. |
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newb
Joined: 27 Aug 2012
Location: Korea
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| Posted: Wed Apr 17, 2013 4:54 pm Post subject: |
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What about me?
I'm just skare shirtless.  |
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